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The Best New Restaurants in Chinatown

Updated on May 25, 2017

Tonkotsu ramen at Ramen Champ | Photo by Joshua Lurie

The Chinese American community in Los Angeles dates to the 1850s, but it wasn’t until 1938 that the Downtown L.A. neighborhood that once held Little Italy officially became known as Chinatown. Now, almost seven decades later, Chinatown is experiencing a revival. Restaurants like Eastside Market Italian Deli, Nick’s Café, Philippe the Original, Phoenix Inn and Sam Woo are still going strong, but here are 10 top picks from a new generation of restaurants.

Burgerlords

rothers Fred and Max Guerrero come by burgers honestly, since father Andre Guerrero founded The Oinkster. They started with art, running the nearby Slow Culture art gallery when they’re not at Burgerlords. Their casual grab-and-go burger window launched in Chinatown’s Central Plaza in 2015. The younger Guerreros are both vegetarian, which means they make a stellar veggie burger, but the primary burger is still meat-based. Their double cheeseburger features thin, griddled patties crafted from chuck, brisket, and short rib. Each order comes with a melted American cheese blanket, lettuce, tomato, onion, and Thousand Island dressing on a sponge bun. Kennebec shoestring fries and classic sodas round out the focused menu.

Gigo’s Café & Deli

This tiny Vietnamese cafe features a glass front, yellow and red walls, Formica tables and an LCD screen that displays the boba and smoothie menu. Sweet fruit and tea drinks aren’t the primary focus at Gigo’s. Instead, that would be Vietnamese comfort food, including steaming bowls of pho loaded with ingredients like rare steak, brisket, beef balls, tripe and tendon. We’re also believers in their broken rice, which sports options like charbroiled meatballs, juicy pork chops and puffy fried eggs. No matter the combo, each plate comes with pickled carrots and a soothing bowl of scallion-scattered beef broth.

Golden Lake Eatery

Tucked away in a plaza, this Cambodian restaurant features a red awning, prominent photos of dishes on the walls, mismatched tables, and plastic-wrapped, grab-and-go food on a tan and green counter. The proprietor, Lyly serves the comfort food of her homeland, including Banh He Hap, and pan-fried (or steamed) leek cakes, which arrive bursting with bright green stalks. Rice noodles are especially popular, like Hu Tieu Trieu Chau Kho, which features assorted pork parts and preparations, plus some other fun bits, which come with crunchy bean sprouts and beef bone soup on the side. Banh Loc Xao Do Bien is another fun dish, featuring seafood fried short rice noodles with fish cakes, fish balls, surimi, scallions and bean sprouts.

Homegirl Cafe

Father Greg Boyle founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 to keep one-time gang members and incarcerated Angelenos employed and off the streets. Located on the ground floor of a bright orange and yellow building, their home base now features Homegirl Café, which relocated from Boyle Heights to Chinatown and serves hearty, healthy Mexican food. Tacos are especially popular. Fillings for their corn tortillas include salmon with jalapeno pesto, pico de gallo and cilantro. If you’re lucky, they’ll have Jorja’s sautéed hibiscus flowers with caramelized onions, avocado, cucumber, Serrano peppers and cilantro. Salads and grilled cheese are also standbys. Homegirl even has an in-house bakery, which fills a display case and supplies L.A. cafes.

Howlin’ Ray’s

L.A. born chef Johnny Zone and his wife Amanda Chapman studied hot chicken at the source – Nashville – and started with a food truck before opening a fully realized brick and mortar realization in Chinatown’s Far East Plaza to start 2016. Décor consists of decorative plywood, an open kitchen, a wall-mounted menu, and two framed paintings of Gram Parsons, another person who wasn’t born in Nashville, but connected with the city. Fried chicken utilizes a proprietary pepper blend that ranges from “country,” which falls short of mild, to “howlin’,” a spice level that’s liable to burn a hole in your cheek. Get a whole bird or pieces of your choice. Howlin’ Ray’s also serves a terrific fried chicken sandwich with juicy breast meat on a buttered bun with cabbage slaw, pickles and spicy “comeback sauce” crafted with chile powder, paprika and more. On weekends, they serve chicken and waffles, and neighboring coffeehouse Endorffeine will gladly pair a maple bourbon iced latte made using cold brew, Clover milk, and maple Bulleitt bourbon syrup.

The Little Jewel of New Orleans

This market carries all the comforts a homesick New Orleans native would crave, including shelves devoted to house-made sausages, tasso and boudin balls, Zapp’s potato chips, Café du Monde coffee, and a bevy of ingredients and hot sauces. Marcus Christiana-Beniger hails from the French Quarter, so he comes by the food honestly, and he partnered with New Jersey native Eunah Kang. Beyond a green-and-white awning, you’ll find a black-and-white tile floor and a handful of tables. Sandwiches like muffalettas or po’ boys on Leidenheimer loaves, stuffed with roast beef and fried shrimp, are especially popular. The house-made Chaurice may be new to L.A. The Creole pork sausage is flecked with parsley, shallots and scallions. Crawfish mac and cheese is another crowd pleaser, featuring fusilli folded with Mornay, mayo and house-smoked Andouille.

Mexicali Taco & Co.

Esdras Ochoa and Javier Fregoso represent their Baja border town well after building on the success of their short-lived but red-hot stand on nearby Beaudry. Their restaurant on Figueroa has communal wood tables and a trio of meats: carne asada, chicken and chorizo. Shrimp and pastor also get the occasional spotlight. The Mexicali natives drew inspiration from their childhoods in crafting comforting options like the vampiro, a garlic-blasted quesadilla filled with a choice of grilled meat; or the cachetada, a crunchy tostada topped with meat, molten cheese and a drizzle of spicy chipotle aioli. Nachos are also a hit thanks to the waterfall of yellow cheese and punchy salsa de rajas featuring roasted chile poblano, roasted Roma tomatoes, fresh onion and a “killer vinegar mixture.” Aguas frescas like the barley drink, cebada or tart tamarind lime, help to tame the heat.

Ramen Champ

Eggslut chef/owner Alvin Cailan brought the party upstairs at Far East Plaza in January 2015. He teamed with protégée Johnny Lee, ramen veteran Nathan Asamoto, and front of house partner Michael Sudjati on this modern restaurant. On elaborate wallpaper, designer Mike Houston playfully depicts characters from “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!,” a veritable Noah’s Ark of animals, and even some Ramen Champ employees. The ramen is made the old fashioned way, with fresh, local noodles and steaming stocks prepared in steaming cauldrons in an open kitchen. Ramen Champ only has 22 oak bar stools at granite counters, so you might have to wait, but it’s worth it to score bowls of creamy tonkotsu, topped with slices of slow-cooked chashu, scallion ribbons, crisp radish, toasted sesame seeds and black garlic oil. You’ll also find a vegetarian ramen and a chicken shio ramen with creative chicken belly chashu. No matter the broth, you know Cailan’s got their seasoned egg game on lock. Complimentary snacks include what may be the best chicken karaage in town and tako tots, a version on octopus-cored takoyaki.